In an effort to bring an effective COVID-19 vaccine to the US market by 2021, the White House launched Operation Warp Speed (OWS) last month and today named five vaccine candidates as the most likely to produce a viable vaccine in a record-breaking timeframe.The five vaccines include Moderna’s mRNA1273, currently in phase 2 trials; AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s AZD1222, now in clinical trials at multiple UK sites; a candidate from Johnson & Johnson; a Merck vaccine based on that company’s successful Ebola vaccine; and Pfizer and BioNTech's BNT162.The accelerated programs are funded through $10 billion from Congress and $3 billion directed for National Institutes of Health (NIH) research.Earlier this week, Anthony Fauci, MD, director